Social media addiction and psychological outcomes: the mediating roles of affect, authenticity, and self-image

The expansion of social media as a dominant infrastructure of social interaction has raised important questions regarding its impact on cognitive, emotional, and identity-related processes. While prior research has predominantly relied on exposure-based models, increasing attention is directed toward the ways through which digitally mediated environments influence psychological functioning. At the same time, emerging interdisciplinary frameworks in neurolaw and neurorights highlight concerns related to mental integrity, cognitive liberty, and mental privacy, emphasizing the need to understand how algorithmically structured environments interact with internal psychological processes. The present study examines the psychological ways linking social media addiction to academic performance and psychological flourishing, while providing an empirically grounded perspective relevant to digital governance. A cross-sectional sample of 940 participants (aged 18–72 years; M = 31.00, SD = 11.35) completed validated measures of social media addiction, affectivity, authenticity, self-image, academic performance, and flourishing. A path analysis with observed composite scores was used to test a mediation model. Results indicate that social media addiction, distinct from general usage, was associated with higher negative affect, lower positive affect, and lower authenticity. These associations were statistically mediated through self-image in a cross-sectional covariance model, with self-image emerging as the strongest indirect pathway linking compulsive digital engagement to lower academic performance and reduced psychological flourishing. Among the mediating variables, authenticity represented the strongest indirect association, followed by affective processes, whereas non-compulsive use showed no significant associations. These findings support a mechanism-based model in which the impact of social media operates through affective dysregulation and identity-related processes rather than direct exposure. From an interpretative perspective, the results are conceptually consistent with concerns raised in neurorights discourse regarding cognitive autonomy and mental integrity. These findings should be understood as psychological correlates that may be relevant to such debates; they do not constitute direct evidence of rights violations or neuropsychological harm, and no neurocognitive variables were assessed in this study. Overall, the study contributes to a more precise understanding of digital behavior by integrating psychological statistical mediators with broader frameworks of digital governance and provides a foundation for interventions targeting internal processes while preserving fundamental freedoms such as expression and privacy.